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"Blacken the sky Can't stand to see the sun The truth of light Reveals the hatred that has won" – I Saw The End by Pallbearer

An always joyous past time of mine is browsing Bandcamp looking for something that catches my eye. I of course do this every day, and like every other day I just so happened to be on the Bandcamp site looking for something that would catch my eye. Well, something caught my eye. I didn’t read the name of the band or the title of the album, it was the cover art of course that caught my attention. Just looking at this made me wonder what was inside. A naked woman on a table surrounded by mysterious beings, blowing smoke in the shape of a ghost, just seconds away from being impaled by a sword. If all of that does not intrigue you, I honestly can’t tell you what will. After gazing upon the glorious cover art, I took a listen to what was inside.

The name of the band is WOES, and the title of the album is Cold Soil released just last month. These gents are from Copenhagen, Denmark. The brand of debauchery that these guys play is some blackened hardcore. I have come across recently a lot of different “blackened” prefixes to bands such as: blackened death, blackened doom, and it seems to be more and more relevant. Crossing genres is great. It spreads the fan base reaching more than just one scene, and it makes the band more diverse and apt to try to branch out and put out music that you may not have heard before.

Now, I haven’t heard of WOES until today, but I can tell you is that crossing hardcore and black metal really is working for these guys. The opener Woebegone begins with a dissonant guitar, working its way into a sonic wall of dizzying fury. Not only are the guitars furious, the drums are chaotic, the bass is a force to be reckoned with, and the vocals are larynx shredding. The last “instrument” if you will, are the lyrics. If you like depressive black metal, these are some depressing and angry lyrics. On the blistering-and shortest track-Wrongdoer the vocalist screams, “Tie the noose around my neck(Leave me hanging)/Leave me to the crows/I choose this path on my own(Leave me hanging)/So leave me to the crows.”

As dark as this album is, it’s also incredibly vicious. Vicious like a wild cannibal you haven’t fed for days and are keeping caged only teasing him with tender human flesh. These four tracks leave you feeling something. Unsettled, depressed, angry, cold, maybe a combination of everything, but it still makes you feel something. I’m happy I came across WOES, there’s something about them, there’s something about this album. I can’t wait to see what they do next.